Mello's Memories
by The Wammy Girl
Summary: Mello thinks about the seasons and remembers his life at Wammy's House. A birthday present for Mello, no pairings as far as I know. T for minor character death.


**A/N: **Death Note is not mine, please no suing.

Mello never understood the seasons. I mean, he understood how they changed, all the scientific reasons; but he never understood them.

Winter he knew well. And he hated it. Winter meant cold, winter meant his birthday, and winter meant memories. Mello remembered his parents well; he remembered the promises of the best birthday party he would ever have. All his second grade friends had arrived, cake had been enjoyed, and presents unwrapped. He had run into a field in the park, running for something. Joy, perhaps; then again maybe fate.

"Come back!" his mother had cried, "You're too far! Come back!" But he laughed and kept running. Then gunshots were heard. _Fireworks? _he thought, then turned to look back at his parents. His mother was running towards him, and his father was on the ground, a man in a filthy green t-shirt standing over him brandishing a gun.

Mihael saw the man laugh, then he heard his mother scream for him to get down. The man turned, attention called by the mother's noise. He chuckled, and aimed at Mihael, then shot.

He didn't miss. Mihael was shielded as the bullet hit his mother in the head.

In a minute that seemed like seconds, the man was standing in front of Mihael. He squatted down and looked at the boy, who was staring blankly at his mother's corpse covering him like a blanket. "Lucky kid." the stranger said.

_Why? _Mihael silently mouthed, then out loud. "Why?"

"It's my job, kid. Now don't you say anything to the police, but I'm not the bad guy. I'm going to save the world. If you want to help, you won't tell them where I run off to."

Mihael looked at the man, his expression unreadable. Then Mello shot the man, and stole off into the city.

"The cold was numbing", Mello recalled aloud to an empty room. "Both emotionally and physically..."

Mello wandered the city, and few people noticed him. Those who did tried to bring him to his parents, which Mello rudely refused. He was, after all, Mello. Mihael was sweet and likable and did what he was told. Mello was rude, coarse, and disobedient.

"No wonder the world was so cold..." Mello concluded.

Spring. That was when he had found the House. Dubbed as a safe haven for intelligent orphans, Mello figured it was worth a shot. A few questions and a fingerprinting session later, Mr. Wammy knew everything there was to know about Mihael Keehl and who he had become. Mello frequently reiterated that the strange man who had shot his parents had killed himself, and he had merely picked up the gun in fascination.

Mr. Wammy saw through this, but his decision to not allow Mello into his house was swayed by an unexpected arrival. A few minutes of conversation with the odd man with the pointy hair, and Mello was promised a room, roommate, and home. And the new growth began.

Summer, ah summer. it was summer Mello was fond of. Free from the end-of-year studies of his arriving year, Mello intended to take full advantage of the privileges given to the top five highest scoring students. Fortunately, both he and his roommate fell into this range, him in second and Matt in fourth. Mello remembered that Roger had been upset because Matt had always scored third, and his only reason for fourth this year was missing a day of testing.

Matt offered that he had been occupied with a more pressing matter, namely defeating the final boss in his latest game. Roger was angered to such an extent that he was at a loss for words, but Mello was not at a loss for laughter. The victory, however, was short-lived, as the mall nearby had precisely two stores that interested Mello. One was weaponry store, which he was not allowed to buy anything from. The other was a store called Hot Topic. Matt, also intrigued by the dark store, agreed he would go with Mello.

As they entered the store together, they found it to be **exactly** what they were looking for, a new style for their new lives. The relatively cheap prices allowed the children to buy at least a few new sets of clothes. Up until now, Matt had worn loose-fitting, neutral grays and greens with jeans a few sizes to big; and Mello had worn baggy, black t-shirts and dark jeans a few sizes to small.

After their short stint in shopping, however, Matt wore a boatneck black and white-striped shirt and ruffled jeans; and Mello bought, but did not wear, a tight leather vest and matching pants. Stopping by a shoe store later and picking up some boots, the boys envisioned the look they would find on Roger's face once he saw their new choices of style. Then something caught Mello's eye. Something shone in the window of a sporting store. Once Mello had dragged Matt into the store, he demanded the clerk tell him how much the goggles cost.

Though the orange biking goggles were by far one of the cheapest things in the store (as no one had even looked at them for years until they were put on display), the man who ran the cash register form eight to six lied.

"$49.99." he answered, glaring at the small yet annoying child.

"You're lying," Mello replied.

"Excuse me?" the man asked, narrowing his eyes.

"You're eyes keep darting around and you started tapping your foot."

"Look, kid-" the guilty man started.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." The small, yet threatening, boy said angrily. "$25, and not a penny more."

As the man had nothing to say, not knowing what **to **say, Mello left $25 on the counter, retrieved the goggles, and left, all with Matt in tow.

"Here, these are for you." Mello said to Matt once they were seated else where in the mall, eating pretzels. Then, without waiting for an answer, Mello placed them on Matt's head and pulled the steel-framed goggles over his eyes. Matt blinked in surprise as the world turned orange, then adjusted the goggles so he could clearly see.

"But you practically fought that guy in there for these, you should have them." Matt objected.

Mello replied "Here, let me show you something." as he held out his hand for the goggles, Matt handed them over and Mello slipped them on. "See?" Mello managed to say over his and Matt's laughter. "They look **horrible**!" he finished as he took them off and handed them to Matt again.

"They look much better on you, keep them." Mello told Matt. Matt agreed.

Mello sighed, "That feels like so long ago..." Then he laughed, loudly and for a long time. "Roger's face was priceless!"

Then there was fall. Beautiful, graceful, colorful, but winter would come again soon. Mello remembered a time he and Matt had managed to talk Near into leaving the rooms of the house for the yard outside.

An upcoming visit from L had prompted the children of the house to study more and harder on topics of all kinds. Mello, Matt, and Near were the only three children not occupied. Near because he did not need to, and Matt and Mello because they did not want to.

The trees had been turning red and orange for a while, and the leaves were just beginning to paint the ground. It was overcast that day, which was one of the ways the boys had coaxed Near out. They promised there would be no sunburn, no pranks, no tricks, et cetera, et cetera. Once outside, Near immediately sought shelter under a large orange and red maple tree, sitting on the stone bench below it. He was quickly pulled off said bench by Matt and Mello, the unstoppable duo, to make a leaf pile. Near asked what that was, and Mello only told him it was fun.

Once the leaves were piled, Mello took the runway, Matt his copilot. On a count, they ran full speed at the large pile, down the runway, faster and faster. At the last second, they sprang like twin cats, landing in the exact middle of the pile. As they fell out laughing, Mello caught a sight of Near's face, just for a moment. Envy was clearly painted across it. Mello dismissed it at the time, but later it meant so much more.

They had just managed to grab both of Near's hands and have him ready to crash into the leaf pile as a sleek car pulled up behind them. Just as the car stopped, Captain Near with his trusty copilots began down the runway. A pale man with hair that stuck up more than average hair watched silently from his window in the car and smiled.

The three landed in leaf pile and Near smiled and laughed with the other two, but stopped as soon as he spotted the car. Near quickly stood up and dusted himself off, taking even steps toward the insomniac. "L." he said respectively, and bowed slightly.

L's smile faded as Near said "I must return inside now."

"Very well, liebling." L said as Near shuffled inside. L strode over to the still giggling boys and greeted them. They, unlike Near, did not become stiff or unhappy. Instead, they laughed even more and hugged their idol's legs. Near watched sadly from the window, Mello saw. Still hugging L, he motioned for Near to come out; Near shook his head and walked away from the window.

L, finally released from the hug was now listening to Matt chatter excitedly about a game he heard about. When Mello saw a break in the babble, he pulled on L's shirt, momentarily getting his attention.

"Can you tell Near to get out here and stop being boring?" he asked the older man.

L's lips curved up a little. "I can try, Mello." then he walked to the house. A few moments later, Near emerged with L, still looking very not happy. L intentionally fell behind Near as he walked to the friends.

"You wanted to see me?" he said with a hint of fury in his voice. Before either of the boys could say anything, L had scooped Near up and tossed him into the still quite large pile of leaves. Near's smile wavered, but soon reappeared. The next few hours were spent playing in leaves and laughing.

"That day... that life... it was all so perfect." Mello said, staring into space.

"Boss!-" Rod Ross grunted as he burst into the room before catching a deathly glare from Mello.

"Did I not say, Ross, that I was not to be disturbed?" Mello growled, reaching for his gun.

"I- I know boss, but we got into the database!" the leather-clad mafia boss moved his hand back to his side.

"Good. And by we, I assume you mean Matt."

"Yes, sir."

"Good."

As Mello walked into the main room, he met a chocolate bar.

"Happy birthday Mello." Matt said, sitting in a nearby chair.

"Thanks Matt."

_Thank you Matt. Thank you Near. Thank you L. Thank you for everything. And... I'm sorry._


End file.
